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28. César Azpilicueta

What a boss he was tonight, if it wasn't for David's goal, Cesar would have been my man of the match. Contrary to many guys here, i don't care a bit for his limited offensive abilities, i know it is costing us now and then but there many more things that we would miss if we didn't play him. He is the one and only true heir to Terry, i wouldn't have anyone else.

Because its typical for some Chelsea fans to tear their own down at any chance because these players aren't flashy players or the next up and coming star, although Azpi is arguably the best 1v1 defender in the PL and has been for sometime. Particularly the full backs these last few seasons. Fair enough they can improve but everyone can. I am glad we have Azpi and not somebody like Walker or Trippier because the two of they would of got decimated in our team yesterday 😂 Azpi's defensive consistency is severely underrated and underappreciated too, yesterday showed that as a full back being able to defend is just as vital as anything else. He can be decisive in attack too, it is stupid to presume otherwise, he has shown this throughout his Chelsea career. Even more so the last 2 or 3 seasons.

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Because its typical for some Chelsea fans to tear their own down at any chance because these players aren't flashy players or the next up and coming star, although Azpi is arguably the best 1v1 defender in the PL and has been for sometime. Particularly the full backs these last few seasons. Fair enough they can improve but everyone can. I am glad we have Azpi and not somebody like Walker or Trippier because the two of they would of got decimated in our team yesterday 😂 Azpi's defensive consistency is severely underrated and underappreciated too, yesterday showed that as a full back being able to defend is just as vital as anything else. He can be decisive in attack too, it is stupid to presume otherwise, he has shown this throughout his Chelsea career. Even more so the last 2 or 3 seasons.

Walker is prolly the only rb i would take over him player-wise but not from a character perspective. Trippier is just a midget Alonso. No idea why so many rate him. A nice freekick here and there but no pace and no positional awareness.

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Walker is prolly the only rb i would take over him player-wise but not from a character perspective. Trippier is just a midget Alonso. No idea why so many rate him. A nice freekick here and there but no pace and no positional awareness.

Walker would of beem found out defensively yesterday though. He would of been good as a right wing back in a 343 and with Azpi on that right side center back role it would have been a good combination but as a right back he can be got at and leaves a lot of space. There are some games, like yesterday, where you have moments where your under pressure/exposed/struggling to get out (and this can be against any team of any quality) and for that reason I'd rather Azpilicueta over Walker every day of the week. Benjamin Pavard really looked the business at right back for France in the summer as well, a competitor defensively, tactically aware and can deliver in forward areas too although playing as a CB for Stuttgart, where hes been consistent for a long time and when they came back up didnt look out of his depth at all. Hes another guy I would rather over Walker and see a big future for him on the right side. Also while I've mentioned Stuttgart, there is a big future for Argentine Santiago Ascacibar if he can become a bit more disciplined in his role.

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Because its typical for some Chelsea fans to tear their own down at any chance because these players aren't flashy players or the next up and coming star, although Azpi is arguably the best 1v1 defender in the PL and has been for sometime. Particularly the full backs these last few seasons. Fair enough they can improve but everyone can. I am glad we have Azpi and not somebody like Walker or Trippier because the two of they would of got decimated in our team yesterday 😂 Azpi's defensive consistency is severely underrated and underappreciated too, yesterday showed that as a full back being able to defend is just as vital as anything else. He can be decisive in attack too, it is stupid to presume otherwise, he has shown this throughout his Chelsea career. Even more so the last 2 or 3 seasons.

Fans jumping on Azpi's back since Sarri came in is like that kid who ditches the old toy when he/she gets a new one. After Sarri came in, it seems all people care about is going forward and nothing defensively. You're definitely right in saying he's underrated and underappreciated. People have gotten so used to his consistency that they have taken him for granted.

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Fans jumping on Azpi's back since Sarri came in is like that kid who ditches the old toy when he/she gets a new one. After Sarri, it seems all people care about is going forward and nothing defensively. You're definitely right in saying he's underrated and underappreciated. People have gotten so used to his consistency that they have taken him for granted.

The same things happened before to other players, guys like Mikel, Ivanovic (fair enough he was shite towards the end but Mourinho not dropping him wasnt his fault), even Cahill when Conte shifted him to LCB 2 seasons ago and now it would seem Cesc too. They did/do good jobs, have/had been consistent for years but new managers and flashy or up and coming players in their positions made fans render them obscolete too early. Cahill now like Mikel and Ivanovic did, has to move on and perhaps Cesc too but they were underappreciated well before their sell by dates and it would seem some believe Azpi is in that basket. Azpi is a better player than Hysaj, who for me is definitely better going forward than at defending. Working with Sarri in the past doesnt mean it will necessarily be a smooth transition, we've seen Jorginho had a great start but now hes having issues in certain matches. There not all his but we cant just pin our hopes on dumping half our team and signing half of Napoli. Which i feel a lot of fans seem to think we can do. There is almost an arrogance now that people think we just need to be able to attack from all areas of the pitch, our success since the early 2000s has always been built on solid foundations and it seems as if people are turning there nose up at it and appreciating style over silverwear. Fair enough as a football fan you want to appreciate style but I would rather see my team be a success than play nice football and win nothing. Obviously there is an inbetween both, winning with a style like Pep but its hard to do.

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Fans jumping on Azpi's back since Sarri came in is like that kid who ditches the old toy when he/she gets a new one. After Sarri, it seems all people care about is going forward and nothing defensively. You're definitely right in saying he's underrated and underappreciated. People have gotten so used to his consistency that they have taken him for granted.

People are right to criticise Azpi, he wasnt 100% this season. If he now picks from the city game, he will be back to his good old reliable self.

But fans who called for his replacement after 4 months under completely different manager are disgrace. Have some faith man.

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People are right to criticise Azpi, he wasnt 100% this season. If he now picks from the city game, he will be back to his good old reliable self.

But fans who called for his replacement after 4 months under completely different manager are disgrace. Have some faith man.

Not saying it's wrong to criticize Azpi this season because he did have a few poor games defensively earlier on in the season. But on a whole, he's been solid and reliable as always and yesterday's performance was certainly a reminder of that. Yet, those Sarri-bots want him out just because he's not an attacking fullback. It's like I said, people don't care about defending anymore ever since Sarri came in. It's all about Sarri-ball and nothing else.

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People are right to criticise Azpi, he wasnt 100% this season. If he now picks from the city game, he will be back to his good old reliable self.

But fans who called for his replacement after 4 months under completely different manager are disgrace. Have some faith man.

Wasnt 100% this season? Based on what? The guys been defensively solid enough all season, what match has he really struggled in? And the game against City only back to his reliable self? That was easily one of the best performances hes put in while being here, he played better than "reliable", he won 9 out of 13 tackles, however many cruical blocks and interceptions... he played out of his skin I thought.

Hes always a 7/10 guy, always very very solid, leads by example, always puts a lot of effort in but that City game was easily a 9/10 and potential MOTM, which went to another defender, David Luiz. How many other full backs can say they have had a performance that good against Man City who have Leroy Sane at LW?

Second point I fully agree.

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Not saying it's wrong to criticize Azpi this season because he did have a few poor games defensively earlier on in the season. But on a whole, he's been solid and reliable as always and yesterday's performance was certainly a reminder of that. Yet, those Sarri-bots want him out just because he's not an attacking fullback. It's like I said, people don't care about defending anymore ever since Sarri came in. It's all about Sarri-ball and nothing else.

Defense matters just not individual defense, he had a great game but our challenge still remain the same. We are going to need our FBs to create width and stretch the opposition.

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Defense matters just not individual defense, he had a great game but our challenge still remain the same. We are going to need our FBs to create width and stretch the opposition.

Sure but relying exclusively on our full backs to create width is not the wisest of tactics, is it? The wingers have to do that as well, arguably more than the full backs, and while he isn't the most explosive of full backs, I don't think Azpi's attacking play is generally bad - though not perfect at it, he has gotten forward whenever we get our attacks right and he's got decent pace. If anything, it's his final pass that lets him down.

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Wasnt 100% this season? Based on what? The guys been defensively solid enough all season, what match has he really struggled in? And the game against City only back to his reliable self? That was easily one of the best performances hes put in while being here, he played better than "reliable", he won 9 out of 13 tackles, however many cruical blocks and interceptions... he played out of his skin I thought.

Hes always a 7/10 guy, always very very solid, leads by example, always puts a lot of effort in but that City game was easily a 9/10 and potential MOTM, which went to another defender, David Luiz. How many other full backs can say they have had a performance that good against Man City who have Leroy Sane at LW?

Second point I fully agree.

For me, Azpi was PL best 1v1 defender for a couple seasons now. Be it on flanks or in 3 CB system.

This year, he just wasnt that great in defending. Got exploited more times than usual. His offensive, I dont even care much at all, he was never excellent there, and I knew he would have some difficulites under Sarri. But his defensive level also dropped compared to previous seasons.

He wasnt shit at all though. Its just that his level is so high, that when he plays okayish, thats not good enough because he can be much better. Same with Hazard. He doesnt play bad at all, but for his standards he is underperforming.

Thats why both Eden and Azpi deserved some criticism lately.

City game, he was just crazy good and that was level he was showing in number of games previous seasons, I was always impressed. Yesterday he shown that top quality again for the first time so far in current season IMO. He is world class defender after all.

Thats what I meant by being back to his old reliable self.

Same can be said about Kante, he was shaky in first half, but absolute boss in second half. Normaly, both will have to adjust to new Sarri system, but if they play like they did yesterday, we absolutely dont need any upgrade on them anytime soon. On side note, Kante (while I believe he will show his worth under Sarri) is quite wasted in his new role, but if he plays like yesterday, he is pure class. Even if we forget his goal, he was great in breaking their play and set up some dangerous attacks himself.

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Sure but relying exclusively on our full backs to create width is not the wisest of tactics, is it? The wingers have to do that as well, arguably more than the full backs, and while he isn't the most explosive of full backs, I don't think Azpi's attacking play is generally bad - though not perfect at it, he has gotten forward whenever we get our attacks right and he's got decent pace. If anything, it's his final pass that lets him down.

As long we have one top fullback going forward, we can have the other one more defensive minded. Right now, Alonso and Azpi just arent a threat going forward and they arent very fast either. Imagine lets say Marcelo on left, its completely cool to have Azpi on right though.

That said, our RW has to improve, because right flank just isnt cutting it at the moment.

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After reading all thats been said about Dave both on here and elsewhere it sounds like he has split our fans down the middle this season.

From what I can put together he hasn't been himself defensively which I find very strange as he has to me always been Mr Reliable. Ive never thought of him that much going forward but always liked the idea of having him able to find a big target head in the box from distance. But seens thats been missing too.

Dave to me is a defender and thats not bad as he offers great support to the CBs. But that does mean we have to utilize the LB and right now Alonso just isn't doing it is he. I really did expect Emerson to step up after his great start last season and he has shown glimpses that hes still capable. But not sure capable is emough for us right now. We need more.

We are lacking proper leaders in the team and with Cahill,Cescy off means losing even more good footballing heads nut watching Dave against Shitty warmed my heart towards him after reading so much negativity but I love the guy and so want him to prove his doubters wrong.

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After reading all thats been said about Dave both on here and elsewhere it sounds like he has split our fans down the middle this season.

From what I can put together he hasn't been himself defensively which I find very strange as he has to me always been Mr Reliable. Ive never thought of him that much going forward but always liked the idea of having him able to find a big target head in the box from distance. But seens thats been missing too.

Dave to me is a defender and thats not bad as he offers great support to the CBs. But that does mean we have to utilize the LB and right now Alonso just isn't doing it is he. I really did expect Emerson to step up after his great start last season and he has shown glimpses that hes still capable. But not sure capable is emough for us right now. We need more.

We are lacking proper leaders in the team and with Cahill,Cescy off means losing even more good footballing heads nut watching Dave against Shitty warmed my heart towards him after reading so much negativity but I love the guy and so want him to prove his doubters wrong.

I think the huge amounts of minutes played over last 8 years (especially the last 3 and half, where he is averaging way over 4000 minutes per year) are catching up with him. He turns 30 in 8 months, and we all not Vesper's maxim about 30yo and above fullbacks, Look at Marcelo. Hit 30yo and BOOM, has had a huge drop off. Same for DMF's. The only 2 exceptions for ageing FB's and DMF's are both, ironically, Brasilians (who,as a group are the ones who REALLY go downhill fast when the fall comes) Dani Alves and Fernandinho.

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I think the huge amounts of minutes played over last 8 years (especially the last 3 and half, where he is averaging way over 4000 minutes per year) are catching up with him. He turns 30 in 8 months, and we all not Vesper's maxim about 30yo and above fullbacks, Look at Marcelo. Hit 30yo and BOOM, has had a huge drop off. Same for DMF's. The only 2 exceptions for ageing B and DMF's are both, ironically, Brasilians (who,as a group are the ones who REALLY go downhill fast when the fall comes) Dani Alves and Fernandinho.

In general I do agree about the 30+ contracts but theres always some phenom that breaks the mold eh.

Daves not the fastest nor the best passer but for at least now its his head,defending and leadership we need .

Let him stay with the CBs till really needed. Get a faster LB/LWB we can send up n down and cover the LAM/LW (whoever it may be)